“He did a heck of a job. More mobile in the pocket presents a new threat,” said Green Bay linebacker Clay Matthews, who compared it to the “Kolb-Michael Vick deal” when the Packers knocked Kevin Kolb out of their season opener against the Eagles.

So, just how much harder was Hanie to defend than backup Todd Collins?

“Who,” asked Matthews, “is Collins?”

Exactly.

If only the Bears could ask the same, they might be going to the Super Bowl.

But Bear fans know Collins all too well as the only NFL quarterback with two games with a passer rating below 10 this year. He wasn’t quite that bad in Sunday’s 21-14 loss in the NFC Championship game, posting a 39.6 rating by going 0-for-4 on two three-and-out drives in the second half. But that’s only because he not only underthrew every Bears receiver, he twice underthrew Green Bay defensive backs on two near interceptions, including one overturned by replay.

Lovie Smith exhibited many of the stubborn decisions in Sunday’s loss that have made Bears’ fans lukewarm, at best, toward their coach.

Smith chose to punt from the 31 trailing 14-0 and gained only 11 yards when the punt went into the end zone. “We were just a little short,” Smith said, saying they needed to be four yards closer on this late January day for a field goal.

He also tried to force the run most of the day, even running Matt Forte on third-and-8 from the 4. “I don’t think you can use Matt too much,” Smith said.

Chicago punted on that series and Green Bay scored five plays later to take that 14-0 lead.

Smith called an end-around to Earl Bennett on third-and-3 from the Green Bay 27 with 1:15 left, even though Chicago’s non-quarterbacks had run for only 10 third-down conversions in 17 games. After Bennett lost two yards, Smith didn’t call timeout with the clock ticking down to 47 seconds before rookie Sam Shields intercepted Hanie on fourth-and-5 to end the game. “Didn’t feel we needed it. We had a good play,” Smith said.

Yeah, just like he had a good backup.

He did. But his name wasn’t Todd Collins.

Hanie was supposed to be Chicago’s backup before he got hurt in the Bears’ preseason opener. The Bears then signed the 39-year-old Collins.

“You can’t argue with a guy with 16 years of experience like Todd has,” Hanie said.

You can if he’s only made four starts in the last 13 years. There’s a reason he only started four times. He throws like so many previous brutal veteran Bears backups, from Jonathan Quinn to Chad Hutchinson.

Yet, even after he threw four interceptions in only 16 attempts against the worst team in football in his one start this year in Carolina, Lovie Smith turned to Todd Collins on the second series of the third quarter after starter Jay Cutler left with a knee injury.